diff --git a/ext/auto_tagger/main.php b/ext/auto_tagger/main.php
index c43177aa2..8203e1de6 100644
--- a/ext/auto_tagger/main.php
+++ b/ext/auto_tagger/main.php
@@ -171,9 +171,11 @@ public function onTagSet(TagSetEvent $event): void
             }
             error_log("auto-tagger: checking results for metatags...");
             # need to check tags again for metatags
+            $tmp_new_tags = [];
+            $tmp_metatags = [];
             foreach ($results as $r) {
                 if ((!str_contains($r, ':')) && (!str_contains($r, '='))) {
-                    $event->new_tags[] = $r;
+                    $tmp_new_tags[] = $r;
                     error_log("auto-tagger: ".$r." is definitely a normal tag.");
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -182,13 +184,15 @@ public function onTagSet(TagSetEvent $event): void
     
                 //seperate tags from metatags
                 if (!$ttpe->metatag) {
-                    $event->new_tags[] = $r;
+                    $tmp_new_tags[] = $r;
                     error_log("auto-tagger: ".$r." is a normal tag.");
                 } else {
                     error_log("auto-tagger: ".$r." is a meta tag!");
-                    $event->metatags[] = $r;
+                    $tmp_metatags[] = $r;
                 }    
             }
+            $event->new_tags = $tmp_new_tags;
+            $event->metags = $tmp_metatags;
         }
     }